Knowra Naked mole-rat Naked mole-rat The naked mole-rat is a nearly hairless, burrowing rodent native to East Africa. It lives in eusocial colonies and shows unusual resistance to some forms of cancer.
Bathyergidae : Bathyergidae is a family of African rodents adapted to underground life. The naked mole-rat belongs to this family of burrowing rodents.
Cancer resistance : Cancer resistance is the capacity to prevent or suppress tumor formation despite cellular changes that can cause cancer. The species resists several experimentally induced and spontaneous cancers.
Longevity : Longevity is the duration of an organism’s life, especially in comparison with typical lifespan for its group. Its exceptionally long lifespan for a small rodent motivates research on aging.
Queen (eusociality) : A queen in a eusocial colony is a reproductive female whose offspring are largely cared for by other colony members. A single breeding female typically produces most offspring in a naked mole-rat colony.
Eusociality : Eusociality is a social system with cooperative brood care, overlapping generations, and reproductive division of labor. Its colonies show a rare mammalian form of this social system.
Contact inhibition : Contact inhibition is the reduction or cessation of cell proliferation when cells become densely packed. Its cells show unusually strong contact inhibition, limiting excessive growth.
Cancer biology : Cancer biology studies the cellular and molecular processes that produce, sustain, and spread cancer. Its cancer resistance offers a comparative model for identifying tumor-suppressing mechanisms.
Worker (eusociality) : A worker in a eusocial colony is a nonbreeding or intermittently breeding individual that performs shared colony tasks. Most colony members dig tunnels, gather food, or care for young rather than reproduce.
Subterranean habitat : A subterranean habitat is an environment located beneath the ground surface. Its tunnel networks shape how it finds food, avoids predators, and organizes colonies.
Hyaluronan : Hyaluronan is a large sugar polymer found in connective tissue and other extracellular environments. High-molecular-weight hyaluronan in its tissues has been linked to tumor resistance.
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